Christmas #1

What a busy yet FUN weekend!

 

This past weekend was a jam packed and I’m even a year closer to 30! It started off on Saturday afternoon with attending Austin’s (Travis’ cousin) graduation from the University of North Texas. After his graduation we headed to The Greenhouse Restaurant where we celebrated his commencement by stuffing ourselves full of good food. (By the way, I actually ate fish and it was good!)

 

After spending the afternoon with the Riley extended family, we headed back to our house with Rusty, Judi, and Derek (Trav’s parents and brother) to have our Christmas and celebrate the December birthday’s together. We were so full from our late lunch that we didn’t even eat dinner! Rusty and I are the Christmas babies in the family so we got to open our birthday presents and then it was time to open our Christmas presents with the Riley’s! What a wonderful first Christmas with our family in our little home. It was so wonderful to have the Riley’s be able to come up and spend the weekend with us and get to share our first of 3 Christmas’ together.

 

Sunday morning was race day. What is race day you ask? It is an annual Huey tradition that I started back in 2004. I had this “great” idea that I wanted to run a half marathon, so I found the White Rock Marathon in Dallas and started training. After I started training I asked Trent (my brother) if he would be interested and soon he started training; shortly after I asked my dad if he would be interested in walking the half and he said YES, so then he started training! So, in 2004 3 of the Huey’s ran their first half marathon and it has since become a yearly tradition. Dr. Steve Raley also joins us for race day, but he’s really cool and runs the full 26.2 miles. This year I bowed out and stood on the side lines whilst cheering on my family J With my birthday falling in December and the race always being the 2^nd Sunday in December, we usually celebrate my birthday post marathon. After everybody has completed the race, we head over to Campisis’ for some good Italian food and great fellowship and a little bit of birthday jubilee (presents and cake for me J).

 

The picture of the runner in the picture is Dr. Raley about to cross the finish line after completing 26.2 miles. Next year my dad will turn 60 and his goal is to run the full marathon in honor of his big birthday! I know my daddy can do it and I am already so proud of him for completing 5 half marathons.  I will re-enter the half next year and hopefully Travis will, too.

 

Next week we will celebrate Christmas day with my parents in Fort Worth and then for the weekend we will head to Houston for the Riley Family Christmas where over 40 Riley’s will be  gathered for the annual celebration of the Christmas holiday!

 

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Natalie's Birthday

Today December 15th is Natalie's birthday and I would like to say happy birthday to my wife. Without her I would not be the person I am today. Natalie I love you and thank you for being the wonderful wife you are. These past 9 months have been great and I can't imagine life without you. You have been my strength through all that life has thrown our way recently. Happy Birthday sweetie.

Trail Ride

 

Yesterday was my day off and I spent the morning at the gym meeting with my personal trainer and then treating myself to a nice cardio workout. When I got home Travis had the horses ready and we headed out to the 428 Greenbelt which is a public park owned by Denton County that has equestrian trails, canoeing sites, and jogging trails. The equestrian trail is 6.5 miles long and takes you along Lake Ray Roberts and some beautiful countryside.

 

This was my first time on a trail ride (a real ride, not one that you pay for or do at summer camp) and my first time riding Moose since he GRADUATED from school this past Saturday. Moose spent a month with a horse trainer refining his reigning skills and he is one excellent horse! 

 

The trail was nice as it took us through some open pasture that took us through some hard woods and we crossed the creek 3 different times having to make it up and down some pretty steep terrain. We made it down the trail about 2.5 miles and decided it was time to turn around and head back home.

 

While on our ride, we came across several armadillos just working away at finding food on the ground. They didn’t even get scared and run off, they just kept doing what they were doing! We also discovered that Travis’ horse, Sloan, has a very fast walk and my horse, Moose, walks extremely slow. I would take off to get a good head start and sure enough Travis and Sloan would catch back up with me and then we’d be left in the dust again.

 

I am a little sore from sitting in the saddle for so long, but it was worth every minute of it. I had such a great time with Travis and getting to know my Moose a little better. I cannot wait to do it again!

Sloan

Travis and I went on a trail ride with our horses yesterday. We stopped along the trail for a water break and I thought I’d snap a picture of Sloan as she rested.

 

More to come on our trail ride later!

Christmas Survey

 

I've been tagged for a Christmas Survey :)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I love wrapping presents with paper. I will only go to a bag if I cannot find a box!

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial- I’m allergic to the real ones, although I LOVE the smell~

3. When do you put up the tree? The day after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down? New Years Day

5. Do you like eggnog? I’ve never tried it, but knowing how picky I am…I don’t think I’d like it

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I would have to say my keyboard

7. Hardest person to buy for? Travis! He is notorious for returning things!!!!

8. Easiest person to buy for? My mom

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No, but I think we need one!

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail! Be looking in a mailbox near you. The 1^st annual Riley Christmas card is on its way.  

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A vacuum cleaner and Crockpot

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?  I have two: ELF and Christmas Vacation

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Around Thanksgiving. I love shopping on the internet

14. Have you ever re-gifted a Christmas present? No, but my grandmother was really good at giving ‘attic’ gifts as she got older J

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Mom’s Sausage and Cheese balls and egg casserole Christmas morning

16. Lights on the tree? I am a white light kind of girl

17. Favorite Christmas song? Oh Holy Night

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We are now on a rotating schedule for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Riley Thanksgiving and Huey Christmas for 2008

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? I don’t think so..I’m bad. Remember the movie Prancer?

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Traffic driving home from work…uggg

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I’m a fan of our cute western ornaments

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? I prefer our Christmas Eve dinner: tamales and Mexican food

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Personal training, new black boots, a Wii

I tag: Marci, Tara, Ryan, and Ashley

 

 

Almost 3!

In less than 3 weeks my sweet "little" boy, Coon, will be 3!!! He
makes me smile and I just love that little guy so much.

Thanksgiving Plate

Pumpkin dip

Thanksgiving

What an eventful Thanksgiving week this has been!

 

Monday morning I woke up at 1:30am with the worst throat pain I have ever had. It truly felt like I was swallowing razor blades. I made it ¾ of the day at work and came home to try and rest. Tuesday was my day off at work, but when I woke up I was in even more pain so Travis and I headed out to the CVS Minute Clinic. After doing a throat culture, the test came back positive in less than 10 seconds and the results were in… I had a violent case of Strep Throat. I was told not to go to work on Wednesday as I was still contagious. It has literally taken every bit of strength I have to swallow. I don’t ever remember Strep being this painful as a child, hopefully Travis won’t get it, but the doctor did say there is a good chance that he will…

 

I say all of this because we were HOSTING Thanksgiving at our house. I had 7 people to prepare and cook for. Now, who wants to eat some contagious girl’s food? That’s right…nobody, SO my AMAZING husband really stepped in and helped out. He was by my side the entire time as I directed him around the kitchen. He even cooked the entire 23 pound turkey by himself.

 

 

Below you will see a picture of the Pumpkin Dip that I put in a leaf shaped bowl with apples on the outside.

 

 

This picture is a shot from where I was sitting at our table. It’s not the best picture, but I still wasn’t feeling all that well.

 

 

The one positive thing about having Strep the week of Thanksgiving is that I am proud to announce I have lost 4 pounds…that’s right, not one pound gained during this gorging fest! I just hope Travis doesn’t get sick next!!

 

I hope everybody enjoyed their day of Thanksgiving with family and friends you love.

Girl's Only Weekend

 

This past weekend I got to visit 2 of my closest friends and Baylor roommates, Abbie and Erin. We try and get together at least 2 times a year for some much need girl time. This time was even more special as we got to celebrate Erin and Stephen’s recent engagement! The wedding is planned for September 12, 2009 in San Antonio and I cannot wait. I’ve even been asked to be the Matron of Honor!

 

Abbie and I got in around 11:30 Friday evening and tried so hard to stay awake while Erin was out at a law firm dinner, but we both crashed on the couch.

 

Saturday we spent a majority of the day eating and just relaxing which was so very nice and we all felt so refreshed. We started off the day by eating brunch at Hungry’s Café in Rice Village. It is delicious. Abbie had the croissant French toast that was topped with fresh strawberries and bananas, Erin had the Mediterranean wrap, and I had the Pueblo Chicken wrap.

 

 

Saturday afternoon we went back to Erin’s house and watched The Real Housewives of Orange County and I think we each feel asleep on the couches at some point. After a relaxing afternoon we got all gussied up and went to eat at Lupe Tortilla. Lupe has amazing homemade tortillas both flour and corn and the best beef fajitas I have EVER had.

 

 

They marinate their beef fajitas in lime juice and they are just so tender and oh so good. The 3 of us scarfed down the fajitas for two like they were going out of style…I cannot wait to go back!

 

Apparently we thought it would be a good idea to top off our already stuffed stomachs with TCBY. There is not one near us in Aubrey and the 2 in Waco closed down, so we each got our fix of White Chocolate Mousse frozen yogurt.

 

In all it was a great weekend and I will be working out extra hard this week to work off all the food we consumed. I love spending time with my 2 favorite girls. Our next reunion is going to be in Llano and we are going bring our boys with us!

 

Love you girls!

Thanksgiving

In just 9 days we will celebrate Thanksgiving and then the REAL countdown for Christmas can begin.

 

I love Christmas (more on that later)!!! It truly is my favorite time of year.

 

Now, this is my first Thanksgiving as a Riley and my first time to host the important meal at OUR house with both sets of parents attending…now, that’s a lot of pressure. I am really excited to get to use all of our nice China and some dishes we haven’t been able to use yet, but I have a fear that I’m going to ruin the turkey. It’s either going to look like the top picture

 

 

OR

 

 

It will look like the above charred turkey.

 

 I like to think of myself as a pretty good cook/baker. However, having the responsibility of cooking a 15+pound bird for your parents and in-laws comes with a lot of pressure. If the turkey fails, we will at least have lots of sides. A must have for a Huey Thanksgiving is green bean casserole and a must have for a Riley Thanksgiving is Cranberry Sauce. What are some of your family traditions at Thanksgiving?

 

I will be serving a pumpkin dip as an appetizer that is to die for…seriously…it’s amazing (thanks Amy H!!!).  This is best served with apple slices or graham crackers…

 

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon frozen orange juice concentrate

DIRECTIONS

1.  In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gradually mix in the pumpkin. Stir in the cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and orange juice until smooth and well blended. Chill until serving.

I am REALLY excited to have both parents at our house, not having to travel, and to show off all of our wonderful wedding presents. I’m even going to wear my cute Apron! I love hosting parties, but this is by far the biggest one we have been in charge of. Wish us luck J

 

Also, as of today just 37 days until Christmas!!!

Below are some reasons of why I love Christmas:

 

it makes me think of my family and the fun times we had growing up, skiing in Keystone, driving to Baylor bowl games (that was a LONG time ago), celebrating mom and dad’s anniversary (even once at Whataburger), Jesus’ Birthday, tamales on Christmas Eve, candlelight Christmas Eve church service, my birthday on the 15^th, my dog, Coon’s birthday on the 19^th, and Rusty’s birthday also on the 19^th, going to my brothers basketball games (MT Rice tournament), breakfast casserole on Christmas morning, and many more…

 

Happy Birthday Mommy

 

Happy Birthday to my MOM!

 

Tomorrow, 11-11-2008 my amazing mother, Susan Huey, will be celebrating her 56^th birthday. We were able to get together to celebrate her special day last night at The Cheesecake Factory in Dallas. We definitely stuffed ourselves on the delicious food. I even had leftovers today for lunch! They give portions that are just way too big!!! Somehow, Travis and Trent managed to finish their entire slice of cheesecake, too!

 

 

Dad bought mom a new Iphone and oddly enough Trent and I BOTH got mom accessories for her new Iphone. Travis and I got her a rubber case AKA “phone bra” and Trent and Kourtny got mom another type of carrying case for her to use when she is at Special Olympic track meets being the awesome coach that she is J

 

Mom, thank you for being such an incredible person. I look up to you for so many reasons. These are just a few: You are always putting others before yourself, you are a true woman of God, you love serving other people, you are a gift giver and always remember everybody’s birthdays, you are still in love with dad, like I imagine you were when you first met, you always have a smile on your face, you love all of our pets, you took time out of your schedule to go help Granddaddy every Wednesday with paying bills and spending time with him, you did an AMAZING job planning our wedding ( I still don’t know how you did it while working and were SO organized), you are an incredible teacher who has such a soft heart for autistic children, you love Special Olympics no matter how tired you might be after a long weekend away from home, you could spend every day at the beach just sitting under the rainbow umbrella reading a book, you have date night with Daddy every Friday.

 

I hope you have a very special birthday and know just how much we love you.

 

Thank you for being such a wonderful mom and role model to all of us!

 

 

Ouch!!

Travis went to the roping pen this afternoon and was bucked off our
horse. I immediately thought of a head injury or something pretty
serious.

I get a call from him at work asking me "what card do I use?". I kept
asking what card and he said medical ID card. I was freaking out, but
thankfully all we have is a dislocated finger.

2 Gross Hogs

These are thwnasty hogs we got in the trap. Unfortunately, the big
brown hog got out and Rusty took care of the little black one. Travis
and Rusty had him fir lunch...Gross!

Opening Weekend

Travis and I headed to Llano for the weekend to partake in opening weekend of deer season. I was able to leave work early on Friday which meant we got to town in time to eat dinner at Cooper's BBQ! It was a great start to a fun weekend.

We checked the trail camera to see who had been visiting us. Below you will see some pictures of our guests in Llano:

these hogs are cute, but very mean and bad for the ranch! we caught 2 in the hog trap, but one got out!!!

Unfortunately we didn't see anything good enough to shoot, but we heard about 13 shots around us for the weekend, so we know they are out there...

My sister in law, Kourtny, shot a 9 point buck at their ranch in Crawford!!!

It was a nice weekend in Llano with Travis and his parents. They joined us on Saturday morning. During the day on Saturday we watched College Football and listened to the Baylor game on the internet. It was a nice relaxing weekend...my favorite! Hopefully next time we'll be able to report that we got a deer!

HalloWIIn Party

Correct link to Jenn's Website

Jennifermoreman.com

 

 

Apparently it does not like the WWW

 

 

And it’s not letting me log on to edit the post…

 

By the way, it was 37 degrees in Aubrey this morning. I love the first cold spell of fall/winter.

 

Get your bank accounts and jolly moods ready, just 63 days until Christmas!

Featured Artist of the Week

I would like to make today Jennifer Moreman’s Art Day.

 

Below you will see just a sneak peak of her paintings. She is very talented and this is just her hobby! Jenn and her husband live in Tyler and she is slowly taking over the Tyler area art scene. She has been showcased at several shows in the past months and has several more  scheduled.  Jenn has a passion for animals (especially dogs) and she enjoys painting animals. Most recently she has been asked to do some paintings for the Tyler Rose festival, so you will notice more floral paintings in her portfolio.

 

If you would like to see more of her amazing work go to: www.jennifermoreman.com

 

I would also like to thank Jenn for re-designing my blog. I’m challenged in the blogging template world, but my sweet friend volunteered her free time (which she hasn’t much lately with all of the paintings she did for a recent show) and came up with the new banner. I love it and think it perfectly describes Travis and I! THANK YOU!!!

 

Greatful Gerbers—my favorite

 

Celis and the Cows

 

Vavavoom

 

Texas Rose Festival

 

Don’t forget: www.jennifermoreman.com

 

 

My best friend...

Is engaged!!!!

Just moments ago I got a call from my best friend, Erin freeman,
telling me she is engaged!!!

She and her fiancé are in Napa celebrating their 3 year dating
anniversary. After touring a couple of vineyards and sitting down to a
picnic lunch Stephen got down on one knee and asked Erin to be his
wife!!! I am so very happy for these two.

Erin and Stephen are now both big time lawyers in Houston. They met
during their first semester of law school and have been together ever
since.

Stephen makes Erin so happy. Every time she talks about him she can't
help but grin. God has definitely been good to the both of them and I
cannot wait for them to begin their lives together as husband and wife.

I love you guys!!!!

91 years

Late last night I got the news that my GDad(my moms dad) passed away
and went home to see Jesus and be reunited with the live of his life,
Gram.

GDad was an amazing man. He lived through the Great Depression,
graduated from Baylor and went on to get his MBA too. That was pretty
unheard of back in his time. He was married to Gram for 60 years
before cancer claimed her life. They had 3 kids and lived most of
their married life in Arizona. They moved to Waco when I was 6. My
brother and I were so fortunate to grow up so close to them. We went
on a lot of fun road trips with them, Gram taught me to cook and sew,
use the computer, taught Trent to do woodworking, etc.

He passed away suddenly, but he told my mom he was ready to "go home." He was always telling some joke or learning some new trick on his computer. He and Gram each had their own computer and would play solitare everyday against each other. He's probably the only 92 year old that used email, and new how to order things off the internet. GDad loved making birthday cards on his computer. He would make them for everybody in his building and for all of our family members.

We will miss him dearly, but know that he is in a better place.

I love you GDad!!!

Visitation will be Monday 6-8pm and the service Tuesday at 1:30 at Wilkerson-Hatch Bailey Funeral home in Waco.

Sent from my iPhone

Happy birthday

Happy birthday to marci!!!

I hope today has been a wonderful birthday. It is your first with
karlie, so I know it will be extra special.

I can't believe we have known each other for 15 years! It makes me
feel old...I remember thinking how cool you were when you moved to
Waco. You had moved from stockdale and I just thought it was the
neatest thing that you were from the country( I think you even had a
show pig or something like that).

We have some great memories: PALS, volleyball, off campus lunch,
starting to date Kyle, driving your dads corvette, your milk and
cookies, Baylor, claims, Baylor football, etc.

Now I'm living life in the country. Who would have thought?

Happy birthday! Here's to 15 more years of friendship.

Love you!

The jacket

This is my new jacket. Isn't it fun?

Christmas in Cowtown

Over the weekend my mom and I went to Christmas in Cowtown which is put on by the Junior League of Fort Worth. It’s basically an indoor market with hundreds of booths ranging  from children’s clothing, jewelry, clothes, food, washers, toys for kids, pet accessories, Christmas ornaments, etc. Mom and I had never been able to attend before, but I think it will now be a yearly trip. We got some great finds. I got the cutest jacket. It is brown and white cow/zebra print knee length with red buttons. It really is precious. I wish I had a picture, but I can’t find one online. I bought a birthday outfit for Karlie Davis. She’ll be turning one in December. We share Christmas birthdays! We also bought some jewelry, home accessories, and some food for Christmas gifts!

 

After finding the cute jacket for me, I needed red shoes. I got the most precious red patent leather flats. They are in the above picture.

 

Friday night we went and saw Nights in Rodanthe. I had read the book by Nicholas Sparks and it was fabulous. I just love the way he writes, but the movie just didn’t capture the story line as well as the book, nor did it really follow the book. I hate it when they stray away from the book!!!

 

Another movie coming soon to a theater near you is: Marley and Me. If you have not read the book, go get it today! It is such a great book and it just makes me want more dogs! I hope the movie is as good as the book, but after seeing Nights in Rodanthe, I won’t hold too high of expectations for this movie.

 

The bears were not able to pull out the W against the Sooners, but at least we were able to score AND we scored more points than TCU did against OU last weekend.

 

I hope everybody has a great week!

My sweet Alli

 

This blog is dedicated to my sweet friend, Alli Aman.

 

I had the pleasure of meeting Miss. Alli during our Sophomore year at Baylor in Betsy Willis’ accounting class. We became study buddies with Natalie Todd and even Marci sometimes, too! Alli and I remained friends through the rest of our time at Baylor, but it wasn’t until our victory lap that we became close friends. We pretty much hung out every day (Alli, Jaran, and myself).

 

It was October of 2004 that we trekked up to Dallas for Alli’s birthday. We had dinner at Chuy’s, got ready at Teresa’s house, and headed out to Pete’s Piano Bar for some birthday fun. Alli decided to invite some of her Baylor friends that graduated on time and were already living in Dallas. One of those folks was Travis Riley. It was that night I met Travis. We hit it off, but he didn’t call me until a year later and we now know the rest is history.

 

So, with Alli’s birthday coming up here in a few weeks, I felt that it would be appropriate to make a blog just for her!

 

Alli is now living in Denver doing her sales thing, living in a house she BOUGHT and sharing it with a couple of roommates and her precious basset hound, Zoey. I have yet to visit Alli in Denver, but Travis and I are planning a trip for February to see the place and go skiing! I cannot wait! Alli is a wonderful friend. I’ll admit we have a hard time reaching each other on the phone due to the different time zones, but when we do catch up it’s as if time hasn’t passed!

 

I get to see Alli next weekend in Houston as she goes home to visit her parents and as I go down for a visit as well.

 

Alli, thanks for being such a wonderful friend. I am so thankful to have you in my life! I can’t imagine going thru our ‘senior’ year without you!!!

 

 

Email Blogging

Sent from my iPhoneI am attempting to write this blog via email. I found a setting (thanks,
Julie!) that allows you to blog via email. This is very helpful since
blogging is blocked from my work computer, Travis has our laptop and
wireless aircard, and my new spiffy IPhone doesn't let me blog
either......

If this post works, then I'll be able to blog a lot more!

Enjoy a picture of my sweet Coon as he was getting ready to take a nap
on Wednesday. Anybody recognize the couch he is laying on????

On the road again

I'm writing this post from Houston, Texas. On my drive down I expected to see a lot of storm damage or lots of darkness with electricity being out, but that is not what I have seen. For the most part, electricity has been on in the parts of the city I have traveled. I have seen minimal damage to roofs and lots of fences that are now leaning. Granted, we are staying on the west side of town, so just a little further south and we would see the real devastation Ike left.

It's been busy weekend.

Friday I got an Iphone with some gift cards I had to Best Buy and I love it. I'm still trying to figure out how to use it, but at least I know how to call people. I also got to have lunch with my roommate from freshman year at Baylor, Carrie Olander. I was able to see her precious condo she recently purchased and we ate at a wonderful little cafe, Barnaby's. We had such a great time catching up, I can't wait for future trips to H-town.

Friday night we had dinner with James, Jacob, and Heidi at Texas Roadhouse. It was a wonderful time of fellowship with some of our best friends.

Now Saturday was a different story. One of Travis' best friends from high school, Carrie, was getting married in San Antonio and he was an usher in the wedding. After doing some work Saturday morning, we made the 3 hour drive to San Antonio so Travis could be in the wedding. It was a beautiful wedding with lots of accents of brown and turquoise and a Mexican buffet. We didn't get to stay at the reception long as we had to drive back to Houston. We made it back to Houston around midnight and crashed when we got home.

It's been a weekend full of traveling for the Riley's, and unfortunately it's not going to be slowing down anytime soon! We are still averaging one wedding a month and hunting season is rapidly approaching.

Slow to blog...

I am going to apologize in advance for a future lack of blogging. Travis will be taking the laptop and wireless air card with him as he travels and I'm not able to update the blog at work. Hopefully Travis will let me write a blog and I can teach him how to post it :)

10/40

At first glance you might think I meant to write 10/4, but NO I purposely meant to type 10/40. What is this, you ask? It is possibly the greatest work schedule ever brought to life at my office.

What this means is I work 10 hour days for only 4 days a week. You might think, how can one work a 10 hour day? Well, it's easy when you have a 41 mile drive to work and getting to work at 7 and leaving at 6 takes at least 40 minutes of my commuting time (sitting in traffic). This also means I get 1 day off per week to do whatever I want.

On a typical day off I wake up with Travis and make him breakfast in bed and when he heads off for work I head out to the gym, and run any other errands. It is great to to be able to go to the grocery store in the middle of the week...no crowds, you get in and out in an hour!

This is why I love my employer. This is just one of the many benefits I get at work...some of the other benefits include: on sight dry cleaning, free movie style popcorn on Tuesdays and Thursdays, free frozen yogurt, Sonic style ice in the break room, chapel service on Monday mornings, great insurance, GREAT co-workers, free covered parking( you never walk to a cold, wet, or hot car), and flexible work schedules. Those are just a few of things I love about my job.

I can't wait for my next day off: Tuesday!

Skunk

This past weekend Travis and I headed down to Llano to celebrate Judi's (Travis' mom) 60th birthday and help them install some new floors in the ranch house. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUDI!!!

While we were there we took the opportunity to get the feeders reader for the upcoming DEER season. We went out to one of the feeders Saturday evening and took Roscoe with us. We heard a chirping noise and Roscoe took off...a few moments later Roscoe comes barrelling towards us and he is foaming at the mouth, then comes the SMELL. That chirping noise was a skunk and Roscoe found the skunk. Not only did Roscoe smell, but I smelled, Travis smelled, and Rusty (Travis' dad) smelled. We gave Roscoe a bath with a very small amount of tomato juice and scrubbed him with a lot of soap. The smell is still lingering, but not near as bad as it once was. Travis picked up 2 more cans of tomato juice yesterday...

In other news, after checking the feeders we also checked the trail camera and we found some good stuff!!! It looks like deer season is going to be good this year. We are still having some problems wth hogs, but hogs are under an open season and you can shoot them anytime of year! We saw some good sized does, some young bucks that will be nice in a couple of years and the best was Bubba the buck. He is pictured below. It's not the best picture as it is a picture of a picture....We are eager for November to arrive and deer season to begin!

Lonely Labor Day Weekend

The title says it all...

Travis had the opportunity to join some of his best friends down in Leakey, Texas to celebrate Michael William's last weekend of freedom before he gets married. Michael was Travis' little in his fraternity. 12 guys went down to Leakey Friday afternoon to get ready to float the beautiful Frio River and have some fun guy time.

This means Natalie was left at home with not much to do. Now, it has been nice to relax and get a LOT of workouts in, but I am ready for the hubs to come home. Most of my gal pals already had other plans or were going to be out of town, so I'm stuck up here in Aubrey.

In the past 48 hours I have spent at least 4 hours at the gym, vaccumed the house, cleaned the baseboards, given the dogs baths, fed the horses, mowed the dog run, down 6 loads of laundry, and even ironed!!!

Needless to say the house is cleaner than ever and we are ready for Travis to come home! I'm so glad he is able to have such good friends and be able to enjoy weekends like this.

This coming weekend we are headed to LLANO to celebrate Judi's 60th Birthday!!!! We are looking forward to spending a realxing weekend in the hill country.

I hope everybody is enjoying their long weekend!

Mid-week Review

For the entire month of August Travis and I have not spent a single weekend at home. We have had to be out of town every weekend. Now I love all the trips we have been able to take and the friends we have been able to visit with, but I am ready for September so we cn sty at home and have a weekend to catch our breath.

This past weekend we were invited to attend the 30th birthday party of Travis Roberson (T-Rob). Travis was a fellow KOT with my Travis (T-Rye), however, T-Rob was a few years older and had graduated by the time T-Rye started at Baylor. T-Rob and T-Rye were co-workers together at Pulte...building houses together. They became fast friends, not to mention they are both tall red heads with the same name. Needless to say, there was quite a bit of confusion amongst some of their contractors.

With that said, T-Rob started at Baylor in the fall of 1996, the same time my brother, Trent, started Baylor as well. These 2 ended up pledging KOT together and even lived together during their sophomore year of college.

What a small world it is...

So, Friday afternoon Travis, Trent, and Kourtny and I loaded up the truck and headed down to San Antonio/Kerrville to celebrate T-Rob's 30th birthday. T-Rob and his wife (Laura) moved to Kerrville in 2006 to work for a custom builder; since that time Laura and Travis have had 2 boys, Grant and Jake!!!

The party was Saturday night...filled with old friends, new friends, great food, WASHERS, and nice weather. It was such a wonderful time getting to fellowship with old friends and create new ones. We miss the Roberson clan oh so much and hope that we are able to see them more often!!

Since we were in San Antonio we had the privilege of staying with Judi and Rusty(Travis' parents). They are such great hosts, fixed a great breakfast for us and were always asking if there was anything they could get for us. I hate that we don't live closer to such great in-laws, but I treasure every moment we do get to spend with them!!

I hope everybody has a safe and relaxing Labor Day holiday!!!

I've been tagged

So I have been tagged... I've never done this before
The Rules: Answer the questions using only one word.
I tag: anybody that might read this...

1. Where is your cell phone? counter
2. Your significant other? bed
3. Your hair? curly
4. Your mother? gracious
5. Your father? loving
6. Your favorite thing? Trav
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your favorite drink? h20!!
9. Your dream/goal? ranch
10. The room you're in? dining
11. Your hobby? exercise
12. Your fear? snakes
13. What do you want to be in 6 years? nurse
14.What you're not? cowgirl
15. Muffins? Blueberry
16. One of your wish list items? tahoe
17. Where you grew up? WACO
18. The last think you did? shower
19. What are you wearing? pjs
20. Favorite gadget? ipod
21. Your pets? coonhound
22. Your computer? toshiba
23. Your mood? excited
24. Missing someone? inlaws
25. Your car? maroon
26. Something you're not wearing? socks
27.Favorite store? Nordys
28.Like someone? LOVE
29. Favorite color? blue
30. when is the last time you laughed? yesterdy
31. Last time you cried? Sunday
--the reason for the cry: Travis bought Where the Red Fern Grows

Gulf Shores

We left at 4am...this was the sunrise in East Texas

The tunnel in Mobile...i love this part of the trip!

Mom and kourt playing with the insolveable puzzle!

Kourt and Trent on the beach

Me and my larger than life sized roll

Trent blowing out the candles on his 30th birthdayThe aftermath at Lambert's....

Me and Trav after dinner at Lamberts

More pictures to come later!

Been through the desert on a horse with no name...

We have decided on a name for my new horse.....

Moose "the blaze" Riley....

He will really just go by Moose, but I really liked the suggestions of Blaze so I came up with "The Blaze"...i thought it sounded better than just Blaze :)

I rode him for 3 hours last Saturday before the wedding and he was a gem. He is very gentle with me and turns when I ask him to. We even raced Travis (who was riding Sloan) and we won...TWICE!!! Now, I think he was letting me win, but still...it made me feel good :)

Thanks to the folks who suggested names for my horse!

Bad Computer

So, after returning from the beach we cranked the laptop up connected to the internet(which is wireless). The wireless connection was established however when you went to open Internet Explorer it would not connect and said we needed to connect a network cable. Obviously there ws no cable to connect since we have a wireless connection...so after Travis spent 70 minutes on the phone with Verizon they decided to send us a new aircard. We got the new aircard and we STILL had the same problems, so off we go to visit the over priced Geek Squad at Best Buy. We spent 40 minutes in line to visit with resident Geek and he took our computer for $140 (the computer is only 5 months old...it was Travis' wedding present to me) and said it could take 7-10 days to fix. Travis got a call today Monday- August, 18th saying our computer was fixed. The geeks told us they are not sure what happened or HOW it happened, but it is now working. Apparently the un-installed the software (which we had done on the phone with Verizon) and changed some of the default settings and voila we have internet again...

so here we are...expect a lot of blogs in the next few days!

We're Back!!!

Hello my blogging friends.

What a month it has been...lot's to update about.

First off, one of my friends went through something I wish and hope nobody our age has to experience, the death of a parent. This friend knew her father was ill, but he faded quickly and the Lord called him home. I cannot even imagine what it feels like to lose a parenet at this age. If you have time say a prayer for my friend that she is comforted during this time and that the Lord will give her a sense of peace and calmness knowing her father is no longer in any pain. Also pray for her strength to be able to handle all of the stages of grief and know that her friends are there for her ANY time she needs them.

We had the opportunity to spend a week with my parents and brother and his wife in Gulf Shores, Al. We have been going there for 4 years now and I hope thise Huey tradition continues. We stay at The Beach Club which is a large complex with 4 17 story condo towers, a dozen tennis courts, half a dozen pools, direct beach access, workout facilites, and you can even rent cottages, too! The week was perfect. The boys played golf a few days and the gals shopped and layed out. I now have a nice tan and travis does, too! At night we take turns cooking dinner so it was fun to get to cook in the kitchen with my hubs. My parents also had a professional photographer come and take family pictures. They turned out great and I can't wait to get our copies in the mail.

After we returned from our amazing week at the beach we had a wedding to attend in Waco. It was for a family friend that went to church with us. One of those families you go out to eat with every Sunday after work. The wedding was beautiful and Melissa was a stunning bride. I know she and Matt are going to have a wonderful life together. They are a wonderful Christian couple with their hearts on fire for the Lord.

This past weekend Travis headed down to Leakey, Texas to celebrate Blake Barry's last weekend of freedom (bachelor party). 15 boys rented a cabin on the Frio river and floated the river all weekend, cooked out, and played washers.

While he went of town I took the opportunity to visit my best friend, Erin, in Houston. We had an AMAZING weekend together filled with a workout, pedicure and manicure, shopping, and fabulous food and getting to meet her new friends AND see her new house in the prestigious River Oaks area of town.

And lastly, this coming weekend we are headed to Kerrville to celebrate the 30th birthday for Mr. Travis Roberson. He worked at Pulte with Travis and happened to be roommates with my brother in college...what a small world...so trav and i will be traveling to Kerrville with Trent and Kourtny. We cannot wait to see the Roberson family and other Baylor folks!

I'll update with pictures soon!

Friends + Hill Country = Perfection

I've already posted my love for the great town of Llano, Texas so i'll spare you all the reasons I love that town again. Besides deer season the summer is my 2nd favorite time in Llano bc of the Llano River. It's a clear river with a rock bottom which allows of lazy afternoons floating in the river with a beverage of your choice.

Travis and I had the honors of one of our best friends joining us on our trip to Llano...Miss. Meagan Wilson. Meagan is a fabulous friend. She and I met over 7 years ago through our sorority. It wasn't until after graduation from Baylor and both living in the DFW area that we re-connected. She would do anything for anybody. She is always there for Travis and I when we need her. We love her dearly!

This is Meagan deciding just what to get at Cooper's...such a hard decision.

Plug for Megs: I'd also like to take this time to say that Megs is single, buying her first home, and has a wonderful job. She's also one of the most photogenic person I have ever met.

Sitting in the river with ROSCOE

Megs enjoying her last morning at the ranch

Megs, thanks for risking a weekend away at the Riley Ranch in Llano. We hope you will come back!

My New Horse

I am getting my very own horse! He's a beautiful bay horse with 4 white socks, and a white blaze down his face. Travis is having one of his roping buddies continue to train him so that he can also be used as a back up roping horse for Travis.

The pictures make him look short, but he is one built horse. He's all muscle, which means he will keep me safe :)

So, i'm calling out to my few blog readers for name suggestions. Send any and all name suggestion for me.

the animal names already taken at our house include: Coon, Maggie, Roscoe, Parker, Lucy, and Sloan

Just think YOU could be the one that names my horse!